Alice Waters introduced the goat cheese salad at her Berkeley, Cal., restaurant, Chez Panisse, in the early 1970s. Walk into most any restaurant today, however, and goat cheese is on the menu. But the difference between goat cheeses —chèvrein French —is as measurable as the difference between the powdered stuff and Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy. The chèvre of choice for most Middle Tennessee chefs and home cooks alike is that from Noble Springs Dairy.
Situated in a picturesque setting in Franklin, Tennessee, Noble Springs Dairy is owned and operated by Dustin and Justyne Noble. While Dustin grew up in Wil-liamson County, Justyne spent her teenage years in Tonganoxie, Kansas. They met showing Alpine goats at the 2003 American Dairy Goat Association National Show. The couple shared a hobby. They wanted to plan a way to make that hobby a sustainable farming operation where they could make a living. “We moved out to the farm and started the dairy, got married and now here we are,” Dustin says, with a wink at his wife.